Die Hard : Nakatomi Plaza

Welcome To The Party, Pal!

When it's not crates, it's cardboard boxes

Die Hard started out as a modification for Half-Life, but the team
was subsequently hired by Fox to turn the project into a commercial
title. The problem is, despite the more advanced LithTech engine in
use here, the game still feels and looks like nothing more than a
Half-Life mod.

It probably seemed a good idea at the time, using Nakatomi Plaza
and the events of Die Hard as the basis of a gritty
lone-gunman-against-the-terrorists first person shooter. The game's
plot follows that of the film quite closely, as you take on the
role of NYPD officer John McClane, alone with a band of terrorists
in the 40 storey Nakatomi Plaza after going to visit his estranged
wife at her office's Christmas party.

The game attempts to recreate most of the notable scenes from the
movie, while adding a few more of their own utilising a little
artistic license. Unfortunately these boil down to variations on
the bog-standard first-person shooter staples of yore. Take the
sewer level for instance, one of the first indications that the
development team begin to flounder for ideas once they get beyond
the recreation of action scenes from the film. The level design
here is particularly mediocre, and I was running about the same
areas over and over again without a clue of what to do. This is in
fact where the majority of Nakatomi Plaza's problems stem from -
the utter lack of direction. There is an objectives screen of sorts
which you can bring up during the level, but you're never notified
when this is updated.

I've Got A Bad Feeling About This

Giggle!

Your progress is mostly dictated by running headlong through
strictly linear level design, as opposed to clever stealth
assaults. The scenery is almost completely lacking in
interactivity, and the only offensive tool you ever really need is
your MP5 machine gun.

The terrorist threat is never very real either, and you don't come
up against any particularly formidable foes. Enemies usually
respond to your presence by shouting a bit and then running behind
the nearest solid object until you come and get them. They don't
cover each other, they don't attempt to form an assault on your
position, and they don't try to flush you out with grenades. This
is truly action gaming out of the Ark.

The occasional mid-level bosses (or at least I think they're
supposed to be bosses) are as braindead as the rest of the
shambling cast, and so you can usually resort to hiding behind a
crate and popping up every so often to fire off shots until they're
dead. Then there's the constant threat from SWAT officers, who
think you're one of the terrorists, despite the fact that McClane
has an NYPD badge and ID he can show to them.

Weak

Attack of the blind gunmen with horrific arm deformities

I wasn't joking when I said the only tool you need is your MP5, by
the way. It's not like you have much choice though, as there are
only about five different weapons in the entire game and you rarely
get to use those. Come across the Steyr Aug, for example, and then
try and find some ammo for it. That's right, you can't, and the
same goes for the others.

And we haven't even touched on the use of the moderately powerful
LithTech engine yet. Unfortunately, this is pretty bad news as
well; the palette usually makes use of a dull mix of greys smudged
across horrific low-resolution textures, which themselves are
wrapped around some of the boxiest scenery we've seen since the
first Quake. The character models don't fare much better either,
looking and moving like wooden puppets with facial animations that
are verging on comical. Just when you think things can't get any
worse, you witness the team's attempt at special effects - never
before has a fire effect in an action game made me physically
laugh.

Sound is perhaps the game's strongest area, but even this isn't
without its faults. The guns sound suitably realistic and the
acting of the Bruce Willis (McClane) and Alan Rickman (Hans Gruber)
impersonators sometimes rises above average. However, the rest of
the German accents exhibited by the terrorists are a joke, and
probably offensive to any German players. The (ahem) atmosphere is
permeated by unobtrusive backing tracks which, while not
extraordinary, fit in with the action quite well.

Die

Proof that Germans have no sense of humour

Despite ending up with a poor take on the bog standard shooter
formula, the team have at least tried a few deviations from the
theme. For example, McClane's HUD has meters not just for physical
health, but also morale and stamina.

Stamina works much like the function in the Half-Life mod Day of
Defeat, where too much exertion from running and jumping causes
your player to slow and become tired. This helps to force you into
thinking a little more strategically about your approach, but the
terrorists are such a limited threat that it isn't much of a worry.
Morale supposedly affects how hostages and terrorists react to your
presence, but I never really managed to discern any marked
difference.

Die Hard : Nakatomi Plaza could have been a great game, had
it been given the attention it deserves by the right people.
Unfortunately this just stinks of a cash-in without any
consideration of how to make a decent game out of the license. The
whole affair is cheap and the production values are so woefully
substandard it's a wonder it was ever released at all. There is a
small amount of pleasure to be had amongst this disaster, but not
enough to recommend you spend any money on it.

This is my public bio. There are many others like it, but this one is mine. My public bio is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my public bio is useless. Without my public bio, I am useless.